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BtVS fandom opinions -
Dec. 13th, 2003 03:21 pmOnce again, I don't particularly care if they're unpopular or not, as that's hard enough to gauge even on the best of days.
1. A character doesn't have to have a story or even to be there all of the time to be important. My big example for this would be Xander (other examples include Lorne, Joyce, and Giles), who wasn't used as much in the post-high school years as he was in the during. I love Season Six and Seven Xander just as much as Season Two and Three. And just because he wasn't one of the showstoppers doesn't mean that he didn't do things that none of the other characters could logically or emotionally accomplish. He was the only way to bring back Willow at the end of S6, because of the way his various strengths and weaknesses have been developed. In Season Seven, he's the one who provides a safe place for Dawn. His story wasn't as important to Buffy as it had been in the beginning, but that doesn't mean that he lacked importance ever. In S4, he worries that he's a directionless loser, and in S5-S7, he overcomes that and realizes that he isn't. And he's still Xander, who attracts demon women and who would die for his loved ones in an instant. He's the emotional center of the Scooby gang.
2. Spike is far more interesting and dynamic with a soul than he was without.
3. Part of the reason that I never warmed as much to Oz was because he was a loner, not an outsider, and BtVS was always about the outsiders for me. Oz didn't fit at the beginning. Fit more when he got his wolf, but he was never really one of the gang to me, because it never seemed like he needed it. This may be why I warmed to Tara so quickly - she was an outsider.
4. This season of Angel is steeped in the past. This Wesley isn't quite the Wesley of early years, yet isn't fully the Wes of S4. This Angel makes so much more sense when you've seen everything that brought him here. Everyone at W&H is colored and influenced by where they've been and the beliefs we've heard them voice. Spike is the voice of the new, and yet with him, he brings even more history - Angel's history. And Spike may claim that Angelus made him a monster, but Angelus wasn't there for one hundred years, and Spike didn't stop being a monster until he was forced. And every episode this season has made reference to something earlier. It's all connected and there was never a lack of arc.
5. If you didn't get it the first time around, it can't be an anvil (an anvil being marked by that "Well, the Amish know what you mean!" feeling). It's foreshadowing, or it's characterization, or it's a plot point. Just because it sticks out after the conclusion of an arc, doesn't make it an anvil.
6. In retrospect, I like Cordy and Angel. Just as I liked Buffy and Riley once I'd seen that they were doomed. I'm perverse that way.
7. Jasmine was, in many ways, the extreme form of what Cordelia could be. Cordy advocated that Buffy should get special rules because she was a hero. She saw no problem with atheletes getting special benefits. So, she became a 'champion' and thought that made her better than all the non-champions. Very consistent characterization from where I'm standing. Well, sitting. What was it that Giles said - "We all are who we are, no matter how we may appear to have changed."
8. Alexis Denisof is the best actor that Joss has ever had.
9. The sound problems with Spike, early on? Never seemed out of place to me. I just figured that it was a ghost thing. They've always had ghosts talk wonky. Also, I had no problem with his characterization in the earlier episodes - this is Spike, one of the most physical people around. And he can't touch anything to start with. He's not going to be himself at first, because he doesn't feel like Spike anymore, if he can't bash things.
10. Dawn had a good arc. She grew up and we didn't actually need to see that journey (see: 1) because it isn't Dawn's story. We saw enough to see her turning points and that's enough. She had a full arc - went from being the 'baby' to being a capable young woman.
1. A character doesn't have to have a story or even to be there all of the time to be important. My big example for this would be Xander (other examples include Lorne, Joyce, and Giles), who wasn't used as much in the post-high school years as he was in the during. I love Season Six and Seven Xander just as much as Season Two and Three. And just because he wasn't one of the showstoppers doesn't mean that he didn't do things that none of the other characters could logically or emotionally accomplish. He was the only way to bring back Willow at the end of S6, because of the way his various strengths and weaknesses have been developed. In Season Seven, he's the one who provides a safe place for Dawn. His story wasn't as important to Buffy as it had been in the beginning, but that doesn't mean that he lacked importance ever. In S4, he worries that he's a directionless loser, and in S5-S7, he overcomes that and realizes that he isn't. And he's still Xander, who attracts demon women and who would die for his loved ones in an instant. He's the emotional center of the Scooby gang.
2. Spike is far more interesting and dynamic with a soul than he was without.
3. Part of the reason that I never warmed as much to Oz was because he was a loner, not an outsider, and BtVS was always about the outsiders for me. Oz didn't fit at the beginning. Fit more when he got his wolf, but he was never really one of the gang to me, because it never seemed like he needed it. This may be why I warmed to Tara so quickly - she was an outsider.
4. This season of Angel is steeped in the past. This Wesley isn't quite the Wesley of early years, yet isn't fully the Wes of S4. This Angel makes so much more sense when you've seen everything that brought him here. Everyone at W&H is colored and influenced by where they've been and the beliefs we've heard them voice. Spike is the voice of the new, and yet with him, he brings even more history - Angel's history. And Spike may claim that Angelus made him a monster, but Angelus wasn't there for one hundred years, and Spike didn't stop being a monster until he was forced. And every episode this season has made reference to something earlier. It's all connected and there was never a lack of arc.
5. If you didn't get it the first time around, it can't be an anvil (an anvil being marked by that "Well, the Amish know what you mean!" feeling). It's foreshadowing, or it's characterization, or it's a plot point. Just because it sticks out after the conclusion of an arc, doesn't make it an anvil.
6. In retrospect, I like Cordy and Angel. Just as I liked Buffy and Riley once I'd seen that they were doomed. I'm perverse that way.
7. Jasmine was, in many ways, the extreme form of what Cordelia could be. Cordy advocated that Buffy should get special rules because she was a hero. She saw no problem with atheletes getting special benefits. So, she became a 'champion' and thought that made her better than all the non-champions. Very consistent characterization from where I'm standing. Well, sitting. What was it that Giles said - "We all are who we are, no matter how we may appear to have changed."
8. Alexis Denisof is the best actor that Joss has ever had.
9. The sound problems with Spike, early on? Never seemed out of place to me. I just figured that it was a ghost thing. They've always had ghosts talk wonky. Also, I had no problem with his characterization in the earlier episodes - this is Spike, one of the most physical people around. And he can't touch anything to start with. He's not going to be himself at first, because he doesn't feel like Spike anymore, if he can't bash things.
10. Dawn had a good arc. She grew up and we didn't actually need to see that journey (see: 1) because it isn't Dawn's story. We saw enough to see her turning points and that's enough. She had a full arc - went from being the 'baby' to being a capable young woman.